Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Goals? What goals?

Since I posted my defense of Rabbi Pruzansky on Sunday,two mutual acquaintances have contacted me. One, a college classmate, informed me that Rabbi Pruzansky was a college classmate of ours (a fact that I confirmed via our yearbook - he had slightly shorter hair than I did, but only slightly) at Bir Zeit on the Hudson. That's good news since I don't want you all to think that all of my college classmates were like this guy.

The other person who contacted me told me that he's a member of the rabbi's shul....

Another friend in Teaneck, whom I contacted, told me that he goes to another shul, but that the rabbi is a 'good guy.'

Frankly, I'm finding it hard to understand why so many people in Teaneck apparently have a problem with a rabbi who thinks straight and articulately presents his opinions. But maybe that's because I don't spend Shabbos in Teaneck when I'm in the New York area. Since I made aliya 21 years ago, I have been there once - for a Bat Mitzva a couple of years ago.

I will now drop this subject so as not to lose any friends.

Rabbi Pruzansky has written another very lucid post in which he discusses whether or not Israel ought to undertake a ground invasion. I think that the only thing he missed - which was pointed out in an email from Moshe Feiglin yesterday - is the fact that Israel continues to supply water and electricity to Gaza, and maybe we ought to try cutting that off before we try invading. In any event, here is some of what Rabbi Pruzansky has to say:

What are Israel’s strategic objectives in the current conflict? As
always, those are more difficult to ascertain, because Israel once again
was forced to respond. (From Bizarro World: Hamas claims that Israel is
the aggressor here and must make concessions. Follow the logic: Hamas
has been indiscriminately firing rockets at Israel for years, with an
increase in the last month. Since Israel responded only last
week, Israel changed the rules of the game – the passive acceptance of
rockets on its civilians – and is therefore the aggressor.) Israel’s
obsession with avoiding civilian casualties, even to the immoral extent
of risking its own soldiers’ lives, and even though it is the only such
army in the world held to such a standard, greatly limits its
maneuverability. But what are its goals, ultimately?

The problem is that what those goals are and what they should be
are not identical. Israel wants stability on its southern border, and
an end to missile attacks on its civilian population. It wants Hamas
isolated internationally. It wants the world to halt the Iranian nuclear
program. It wants to avoid an escalation in the north, where Hezbollah
sits atop Lebanon with even more advanced and deadly weaponry than Hamas
has. It wants to avoid a propaganda victory for Hamas that a large
scale death of Arab civilians would engender. It wants to avoid
casualties to and the capture of its own soldiers – anytime, but
certainly in an election year.

Notice how none of Israel’s strategic objectives are solely or even
primarily within its control. That is why it is consistently on the
defensive, reacting to events but never taking the initiative to
transform its strategic situation. One Israeli general this week
described the current operation as “mowing the lawn.” Every few years,
Israel has to “mow the lawn,” i.e., degrade the capabilities of the
enemy and thereby buy a few years’ relative tranquility. Ultimately,
that is a defeatist attitude, as the enemy’s capabilities only increase.
It is certainly not worth the lives of Israeli soldiers to “mow the
lawn.” The grass just grows back, higher and more unruly; on the other
hand, dead is dead.

A ground invasion is only worthwhile if there are strategic
objectives that are achievable and can be enduring. One typical
calculation involves war game theory. A war today that costs 1X
casualties might be more desirable than a war in 2-3 years that will
cost 3X or 5X casualties. Israel has to project the future capabilities
of its enemy, as well as the reliability of the future support of its
own allies (i.e., ally). A definite war today might not be sensible if casualties in a potential
future war are only 2X. A war might be more beneficial today if the
Obama administration two years hence is projected to be less supportive
of Israel. (President Obama is in a predicament. Certainly, he has
endorsed Israel’s right of self-defense, a gesture that is perceived by
his supporters as unusually magnanimous, instead of what it really is: obvious.
But he has also insisted that Israel not invade Gaza, which means that
he prefers the status quo. But the status quo harms Israel.)

What should be Israel’s strategic objectives in a ground invasion?
Nothing less than the destruction of Hamas and an end to its genocidal
ambitions. (Of course, those ambitions will remain, but operating from
exile, Hamas, like the PLO before Oslo planted them in the heartland of
Israel, will be much less effective and an annoyance more than a
threat.) It certainly can be done – although to announce it in advance
would essentially pre-empt its implementation – and it is better
accomplished with aerial bombing that weakens their resistance and
Special Forces to capture and kill the leadership, rather than a full
scale ground invasion.

Israel must re-assert its control over Gaza; it is the only way in
the real world in which we live to prevent the recurrence of the same
(or deadlier) quandary in another few years. Clearly, the hostile
elements among the civilian population must be encouraged to find their
happiness and fortunes elsewhere, and a world genuinely interested in
their plight should facilitate that. In fact, an uninhabited Sinai
Peninsula begs for them, and they could even live there in greater
comfort with limitless land at their disposal – an end to the
densely-crowded conditions in which they live and in which their
problems fester.

This requires Israel to acknowledge that Hamas is their enemy, dedicated to their extermination, and so must be eliminated. There can be no rapprochement with a genocidal foe.

I think that most people here are taking it for granted that there will be a ground invasion. We have 30,000 troops massed on the Gaza border, and the government has the authority to call up 70-75,000 reservists. By comparison, only 10,000 troops went into Gaza in Operation Cast Lead. Hamas is convinced that it can best advance its narrative by bringing about civilian casualties, so it's unlikely that they will even want to reach an agreement, much less abide by one that is reached. We Israelis have also had it with the constant rocket fire, that is making a huge chunk of our country essentially uninhabitable. If you think that description is exaggerated, think how well you would sleep at night if at any moment a siren can go off and you have 15 seconds to grab your kids and get them into a shelter.

People here understand that Hamas is the enemy. What they don't understand is that Fatah is also the enemy, and that nearly all 'Palestinians' support one or the other (or whichever is more effective at murdering Jews, God forbid). If you ask the average Israeli whether Hamas is the enemy, they will say yes. If you ask them whether most Gazans support Hamas, they will be less certain. That's where the delusions kick in.

It's because of those delusions that our goals are not well articulated, and all that might result from a ground invasion is 'mowing the lawn' again. That would be a shame. Unfortunately, I suspect that Rabbi Pruzansky has done a lot more thinking about what our goals ought to be than has Israel's political leadership, which seems to have at least as difficult a time confronting reality as those members of Rabbi Pruzansky's shul who felt it necessary to 'call the rabbi to order.'

1 Comments:

I can't even figure out what you guys are doing. There are photos all over the internet of PM Netanyahu looking lovingly at Hillary... this when Hillary is a leader on the team that has put Israel's throatslitting enemies in power all around you. And who ran (is still running) a gunrunning operation to AL QAEDA??? Enemies of all. You know Hillary is campaigning for 2016, at least until she says she's not. And she's got Muslim Bro Huma whispering whispering in her ear. And all this attacking of Jews is riling up the Jew haters in the U.S., so it would be really good if Israeli leaders would keep in mind the bigger picture. Even if all of you adore the Clintons on a personal level, they are a total disaster for Western Civilization and should not be helped in advancing their intentions.

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About Me

I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-three years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 10 to 31 years and seven grandchildren. Our eldest daughter and eldest son are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com